How many of you spray your lawns with chemicals to kill the dandelions? Come on, let’s see those hands! Well, guess what! You just killed the garden! I had dandelion greens for breakfast!!

Dandy Pear-Cran Smoothie

2 15-oz cans pears (in their own juice.)

1 cup apple juice (I used Simply Apple.)

2 handfuls red dandelion greens

2 handfuls fresh or frozen cranberries

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

My son took a big swig and said it tasted like applesauce. I would say that’s a good thing. And today I left out the banana for the haters out there! You’re welcome!

*According to the USDA Bulletin #8, “Composition of Foods” (Haytowitz and Matthews 1984), dandelions rank in the top 4 green vegetables in overall nutritional value. Minnich, in “Gardening for Better Nutrition” ranks them, out of all vegetables, including grains, seeds and greens, as tied for 9th best. According to these data, dandelions are nature’s richest green vegetable source of beta-carotene, from which Vitamin A is created, and the third richest source of Vitamin A of all foods, after cod-liver oil and beef liver! They also are particularly rich in fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, and are a good source of protein.

Here’s the website for even more interesting information on this “weed”. Check it out!